1. Field of the Disclosure
The features described herein relate to an ink-jet recording apparatus included in a facsimile machine, a copier, or a printer. More specifically, the features relate to a technique for covering an ink ejection surface of a recording head included in an ink-jet recording apparatus and sealing an ink ejection port.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known ink-jet recording apparatus includes a recording head including an ejection surface in which a plurality of ejection ports is formed. The recording head is configured to selectively eject ink through the ejection ports toward a recording sheet. When the ink-jet recording apparatus does not record information, the ejection surface of the recording head is covered with a cap to prevent drying of ink. The cap includes a plate member that opposes the ejection surface of the recording head and an annular lip that projects from the outer edge of the plate member and that is capable of coming into contact with the surroundings of the ejection surface, as illustrated in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-74038. In order to miniaturize the size of the recording apparatus by minimizing the size of a space required for evacuation of the cap, a known ink-jet recording apparatus includes a cap that is configured to evacuate in the vicinity of a side of the recording head in a direction perpendicular to the ejection surface, as illustrated in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H09-109403.
The above-described cap has a thickness of the sum of the thickness of the plate member and the height of the projection of the annular lip. Therefore, evacuation of the cap in the vicinity of a side of the recording head and movement to the evacuation may need a space corresponding to at least the plate member and the annular lip, and such a space may impede miniaturization of the recording apparatus.